Today in the MHSAA: 6/1/16

June 1, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Softball, baseball, and girls soccer MHSAA tournaments kicked off Tuesday and were filled with exciting matchups – but highlights were hardly reserved for just those three sports during one of our busiest days of competition each school year.

Baseball

Division 1 No. 5 Bay City Western got past rival Mount Pleasant for the final time this season, downing the No. 6 Oilers 7-3 to open their District – Bay City Times

Boys Lacrosse

No. 3 Okemos downed No. 7 Vicksburg 19-10 in a Division 2 Regional Semifinal at DeWitt – Lansing State Journal

Girls Soccer

Division 2 No. 3 Pontiac Notre Dame Prep downed Catholic League rival and No. 8 Warren Regina in the first round of their District – Oakland Press

Libby Amley assisted on the first goal and scored the game winner with 50 seconds to play at Bay City John Glenn came back to beat Bay City Central 2-1 in Division 2 – Bay City Times

Goodrich scored its game’s only goal in overtime to get past St. Clair 1-0 in Division 3 – Flint Journal

Softball

Bay City Western opened the postseason with a 1-0 win over Mount Pleasant in a matchup of teams earning honorable mentions in Division 1 – Bay City Times

Flat Rock’s Lauren Hoffman drove in the tying run in the seventh inning and the winner in the ninth to lead her team past New Boston Huron 5-4 – Monroe Evening News

Track & Field

Jackson’s Anthony Owens is on his way to perhaps graduating as the top long jumper in MHSAA history after breaking the 39-year-old record at the Selby Track & Field Classic with a leap of 24 feet, 8 inches – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Clare’s Kasey Staley tied the pole vault record of 11-6 at the Morning Sun Meet of Champions, matching the best by former Remus Chippewa Hills star and potential Olympian Kristen Hixson – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Today in the MHSAA: 4/11/16

April 11, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Forget for a minute the snow of the last two days; spring has arrived for high school sports, and a number of teams got started over the weekend.

Baseball

Port Huron Northern pitcher Brett Manis picked up a memorable early highlight with 17 strikeouts in no-hitting Yale on Friday – Port Huron Times Herald

Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse improved to 3-1 with a 6-4 comeback win over Macomb Dakota at the Spring Break Tournament – Macomb Daily

Girls Tennis

Midland Dow opened with an impressive pair of wins over Division 3 powers Detroit Country Day and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood – Midland Daily News

Track & Field

Some top Upper Peninsula athletes got off to quick starts as Ironwood competed at the Simpson Invitational in Superior, Wisconsin – Ironwood Daily Globe

Good Reads

The Detroit-area Observer & Eccentric newspapers have been reporting over the last two weeks a number of stories on officials as the MHSAA works to recruit more into the avocation. Below are links to just some from the series.  

Wrestling official Zaim Cunmulaj - KLAA assignor Bob Czech - Football and Basketball official Donta Favors - MHSAA always recruiting